The companies defying macro uncertainty and raising guidance: AlphaCheck

The companies defying macro uncertainty and raising guidance: AlphaCheck

Grace O'Donnell · Editor, Special Projects

Wed, August 5, 2026 at 5:06 PM GMT+3 2 min read

Good morning. Stocks climbed higher at the open on Wednesday, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and S&P 500 (^GSPC) to fresh highs, while SpaceX (SPCX) and AMD (AMD) stocks tumbled as earnings failed to impress Wall Street.

But first, a check of the markets in early trading, as of 9:45 a.m. ET, based on a heat map powered by Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace data.

Healthcare stocks (XLV) led the 11 S&P 500 sectors, driven by a 7% post-earnings pop in Eli Lilly (LLY) stock. Gold producer Newmont (NEM) helped lift the basic materials sector.

Here are the top ticker pages Yahoo Finance readers are visiting this morning: SpaceX (SPCX), AMD (AMD), Eli Lilly (LLY), Intel (INTC), SK Hynix (SKHY), Arista Networks (ANET), CrowdStrike (CRWD).

1 trend we're watching: Companies raising guidance

Investors have plenty of reasons to be uncertain right now. There's an ongoing war in the Middle East, the specter of inflation causing the Fed to hike rates, and companies spending dizzying amounts on artificial intelligence.

But those concerns have not wholly shaken companies' faith in their ability to deliver strong earnings growth this year. If anything, corporate America has grown more bullish.

As my colleague Jared Blikre pointed out last week, more S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies are raising their profit outlooks than cutting them.

Optimism is sprouting up on Wall Street too. According to FactSet data, analysts have raised earnings estimates for S&P 500 companies for the third quarter for the second quarter in a row. Usually, analysts reduce estimates in the first month of the quarter, FactSet's John Butters wrote.

That brings us to the individual companies. A recent research report from Argus highlights some of the companies reporting sunnier outlooks during the second quarter earnings season.

"Raising guidance is one of our Investing Themes for the second half of 2026," Argus research analyst Christine Dooley wrote. "We view management's ability to raise guidance consistently as a catalyst for possible market-beating returns in the quarters ahead."

Here is a partial list of companies raising guidance in Q2 so far. Gold subscribers can read the full report here.

• Cheesecake Factory (CAKE)

• Ford (F)

• General Motors (GM)

• Hasbro (HAS)

• Starbucks (SBUX)

• Coca-Cola (KO)

• Charles Schwab (SCHW)

• PayPal (PYPL)

• US Bancorp (USB)

• ASML (ASML)

• Seagate Technology (STX)

• Supermicro Computer (SMCI)

• Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY)

• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

• UnitedHealth Group (UNH)

• 3M (MMM)

• Lockheed Martin (LMT)

• Northrop Grumman (NOC)

• United Airlines (UAL)

• United Parcel Service (UPS)

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